Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Of course, it’s a good idea to make every day Earth Day, but it’s also nice to set aside a special time to be conscious of how important it is to protect the planet and to make commitments to do more for Mother Nature. Plus, it’s a great excuse to throw a dinner party (serving locally grown organic foods, of course)!

So what are your plans today? Planting a tree? Buying canvas shopping bags and vowing to never use plastic again? Starting an organic veggie garden?

I’m hearing a lot of promises like that today, which is fantastic. At my house, we’re just catching up after a week away from home so we don’t have anything big on the agenda. We do plan to build a compost bin within the next couple of weeks, though, and get our vegetable garden ready for seeds and starts. I was better organized last year—we took a nature walk and made newspaper pinwheels, as you can see above and here .

Here’s a roundup of how other blogs are celebrating the earth today:

-The Long Thread is really getting its green on. There’s a list of earth-friendly tutorials here , and go to the main page for links to several giveaways.

-Green guru Danny Seo is celebrating his birthday and looking back at some clever how-to projects. Check out his makeover of an old fridge. I don’t know if it’s greener to buy a new one or use one that already exists, but his idea for sprucing one up sure looks cool.

-Blair over at Wisecraft reminded me of a book I’ve been meaning to mention here called Sewing Green by Betz White . Blair followed White’s directions for a log-like draft stopper to block the cold air from coming in under doors and windows.

-The folks at Ideal Bite are sharing some great links to online vintage clothing shops, including Rusty Zipper, Enokiworld and Annie Creamcheese .

-Cookie magazine is offering some great basic suggestions for greening up your life here . Bonus! The ideas also save money. A couple of my favorites: frequenting the public library and using reusable storage containers for lunches.

-If you want to hug a tree—literally—Junior Society has a list of links to treehouse vacations . That’s right. You can actually spend the night in a treehouse—without your mom checking in on you every hour and your dad making bear noises from across the yard. Did you know we have one of those destinations right here in Washington?

and …

- Maya Made is sharing a tutorial on how to turn an empty milk carton into a storage container.

What’s your favorite earth-friendly craft?